Q.T. SUE Abstraction of the everyday, another everyday life

A hair salon we designed about ten years ago was relocating. The original space, located in the back streets of Ura-Harajuku, was defined by a striking feature: a screen made of tens of thousands of beads. For the new location we envisioned a contrast between something to replace the beads and a bare, almost untouched space. The layout divides the space into different uses with a single freestanding wall. Seating areas are separated by freestanding partitions. There are opportunities for casual conversation in the salon, and although these are not private rooms, people feel more comfortable in their own individual space, so we have taken care to maintain a reasonable distance. For the new design, we drew inspiration from newspapers, thinking of them as a “collection of human patterns”—words and photos that reflect everyday life and interactions. Incorporating this material into the design felt fitting for both the social nature of a salon and the creative atmosphere of Ura-Harajuku. We pasted newspapers onto two structural walls, then painted over them in white. Parts of the text and images were left visible, blending the familiar with the abstract. The salon’s logo, a “Q,” was masked off during the process, leaving it prominently visible as a “bare page” amid the transformed surface. The newspaper application was completed as a DIY project during construction. Construction ink marks and handwritten notes in marker unique to this site were preserved, leaving traces of human presence. Perhaps the artist wanted to show “another everyday life” through mundane materials and traces.